Endless void

A Good Looking Slav says :I’m wondering about the ball-lights, the desk lamp and the lift — are they powered by electricity ?

Electricity ? Lightning is way too unpredictable and dangerous to be used as a power source. You read some theories that you could use metal as a conduit for it, but that contact with said metal would be hazardous and you could get shocked. No, the lamps (and most other modern appliances) are powered with magic.

You have been studying the school’s power grid for your Spellweaving project, and like most modern buildings, the school has magic conduits running through the walls, floors and ceilings. These conduits transfer energy from the school’s central power source into the rooms. The appliances then use the energy to function.

As a side effect, the ambient energy makes spellweaving, and thus casting, easier in the school.

Jaxamar says :So Yume is an automaton ? Or perhaps a golem ?

Yes, Yume is a specialized golem. She was built three centuries ago to serve as the Library’s living memory : the contents of every last book in the Library are committed to her mind, in case one of them gets damaged and needs to be replaced. She also sorts the books on the shelves under Miss Kiyori’s directions, so she knows where every book is.

However, since she’s a golem, Yume lacks the brainpower and self-awareness to manage the Library herself, or to act as a real person. This is why, while she can check books in or out, she isn’t trusted with the Library keys.

Voidbane says :Did Yume just reach you using the staff elevator ? If they have access, maybe she could let you use it to get upstairs…

This elevator doesn’t go all the way upstairs. It only goes up to the Library’s second floor and down to the basement, where the book repair workshop and the library vault are located. Students don’t have access to the basement, obviously.

Also, if Yume came through the lift, you would have heard it open. It is more likely that she just floated to here.

Bandit Dragoon says :Yume is definitely cute.

Isn’t she ? While many students are creeped out by her emotionless doll features, the smarter ones have learned to appreciate her. The Couture club, for example, adopted Yume as their mascot decades ago ; their big end-of-year project is to design and tailor a new, original dress for her to wear. Yume seems to appreciate the attention.

Dakota says :Explain your dream to her, it can’t hurt to let her know and maybe see what she can say about it.

Dragon Tamer says :Depending on how much of a “paper trail” you want to leave, some subtlety might be in order. Likely Yume will happily tell anyone with authority who asks ‘this one’ what searches were done and by whom. So asking for a specific book may draw attention later, depends on how tight security is at this library. Best to get directions to that dream section, unless we are talking about a section with several hundreds titles just on the topic of dreams.

As you said earlier, the less people know about your nightmares the better. Explaining your dreams to Yume would achieve nothing but putting that information on record, where any staff member could access it. Yume wouldn’t be able to help you with dream interpretation either : while she knows the contents of every book on dreams by heart, she is unable to process the information contained within. So it’s better to just ask for what you need and leave it at that.

“Miss Kiyori lent me the key so I could return a book and check out the two I need,” you answer. “Could you tell me where I could find books on dreams ?”

“Certainly. Please follow this one.”

You follow Yume to the second floor.

As she enters the Psychology section, she floats closer to the ceiling, reaching for the highest shelf.

“This one can find about twenty books whose main subject is dreams, and about sixty whose subject is related to dreams. Could you narrow down your query, Miss Whitering ?”

You think for a second. You would normally enjoy taking your time and browsing through all of these books by yourself… but right now, it’s after closing hours and you feel like you’ve spent too much time in the library already. You don’t want to get Miss Kiyori in trouble after she technically broke the rules for you. Sharing an extra tiny bit of information appears necessary in order to speed things up.

“Do you have a book on general dream interpretation ? Not about premonition or prophetic vision, just something entry-level.”

“This one has a book that fits these specifications.” Yume takes a book off the shelf. “This dream dictionary describes many elements or symbols that appear in dreams, and their most common significations. It was written three years ago by H. F. Quinzel, Cognitomancer of the Arkham University.”

“This is exactly what I need,” you answer. “I’ll borrow it.”

“Please follow this one to the front counter, Miss Whitering.”

Returning your novel and borrowing the two new books goes quickly. You’re so used to the procedure, you’ve literally lost count of how many times you’ve done it.

“Here are your books, Miss Whitering,” Yume announces while holding them out to you. “This one hopes you will find them satisfactory. Please take good care of them, and have them returned within two weeks.”

You can’t help but smile. You’ve also lost count of how many times you’ve heard Yume recite this very same speech.

You thank Yume and leave quickly. Once you lock the door, you’ll go straight to the Administration building, then to the sports fields. You don’t want to keep Max waiting for too lo-

You let out a very inelegant “oof” as you bump into someone and fall back on your behind. That should teach you to look in front of you so next time. Now who… ?

Hmmm. If the place is so familiar then perhaps you’ve been there before. In which case slowly feeling along the floor for walls and objects might be productive. I’m going off the lack of audio. Possibly there might be sound to help dicern your whereabouts?